A raft of field projects have been shelved over the past few years as a drop of around 60% in oil prices has rendered many schemes uneconomic, especially those in deep water that require a high level of investment due to their complexity and challenging water depths, as well as in the remote and hostile Arctic region.
Conventional industry wisdom has been that the oil price has to increase significantly before such projects can become viable, with Opec now calling for production cuts to reduce a supply glut and support prices that are currently at around $52 a barrel for Brent crude.
However,
